Magnezone



Type: /
Weaknesses: (X2) and (X4)
Resistances: , , , , , , , (X0,5), , (X0,25) and (X0)


Abilities:

Magnet Pull: Steel types cannot run nor switch while this Pokémon is in battle. Because the opponent’s switching is blocked, the opponent cannot switch on the turn this Pokémon switches out of battle. The opponent may still switch with Baton Pass, U-Turn and Volt Switch.

Sturdy: The Pokémon will remain with 1 HP if it was going to be knocked out by a move when at full Hit Points, and it is immune to One Hit KO moves.


Hidden Ability:

Analytic: Attack power increases by 30% if the Pokémon is the last Pokémon to attack this turn.



Base stats: 70 HP / 70 Attack / 115 Defense / 130 Special Attack / 90 Special Defense / 60 Speed


Magnezone is a very useful Pokémon because of its ability Magnet Pull, which allows it to trap and KO Steel types with ease. It also has a unique typing, giving it a plethora of resistances that allow it to check a lot of big threats, such as the Tapus, when coupled with its decent defenses.


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the sets


Steel Trapper (OU)



Magnezone @ Choice Specs / Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 128 HP / 252 SpA / 128 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]

This is Magnezone's best set in OU because of its ability to trap and OHKO most relevant Steel types in the tier, such as Scizor, Ferrothorn and Celesteela, while also checking other powerful threats, such as Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele, because of its combination of typing and bulk. Electric/Steel is a great typing both defensively and offensively; defensively, Magnezone resists a lot of common offensive typings, such as Fairy, Psychic, Dragon and Electric, and offensively, it can hit most of the tier for neutral damage, allowing it to fire off powerful Flash Cannons with little to no drawbacks (depending on the situation). It also has access to Volt Switch, which is really great for offensive teams because of the momentum it gains by having the switch advantage. Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are just good, powerful and reliable STAB moves and HP Fire allows it to OHKO Ferrothorn and Scizor after trapping them, while Volt Switch is a safe move to "spam" since it gets chip damage on the opposing team while giving you switch advantage. The EV spread can be tweaked to outspeed specific things, but this spread allows Magnezone to outspeed most defensive Mega Scizor variants while being as strong as possible and retaining some bulk to check things like Tapu Lele with more ease. For the item choice, it really depends on what your team needs; Choice Specs allows it to deal heavy damage to everything and get more KOs, but, on the other hand, Assault Vest allows Magnezone to check Tapu Koko, Tapu Lele and other special attackers with more ease. So if your team is really weak to some of the things I mentioned, I would recommend going for AV; however, if it's not, the Choice Specs will probably be a superior option. Magnezone can be paired with any offensive Pokémon that struggles against Steel types since its main niche is getting rid of them; a few good examples are Tapu Bulu and Tapu Lele.

calcs

Defensive:


Offensive:




Steel Trapper (VGC)

Magnezone @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 156 SpA / 44 SpD / 12 Spe
Modest Nature
- Protect
- Thunder/Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Substitute

All credits for this set go to Wolfe Glick, he's an amazing battler and made a video showcasing his London Internationals team where he explains a bit more in depth this set. Anyways, the set is meant to be very bulky while also being able to trap and beat Celesteela. The set was based around these two calcs:

4 SpA Celesteela Flamethrower vs. 252 HP / 44 SpD Magnezone in Rain: 36-44 (20.3 - 24.8%) -- guaranteed 5HKO

This calc shows that in the Rain (since Wolfe also had a Politoed on his team), a defensive/physically based Celesteela can't break Magnezone's Substitute, so beating Celesteela is much more easier when it can't get hit by Leech Seed and has 2 free turns under a Sub.

-1 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Magnezone: 144-172 (81.3 - 97.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252 Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 44 Def Magnezone in Grassy Terrain: 72-88 (40.6 - 49.7%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

This calc shows that a -1 Attack (since he had a Salamence on his team) Garchomp's Earthquake cannot OHKO Magnezone, and in Grassy Terrain (since he also had a Tapu Bulu), it cannot 2HKO it, allowing it to stay alive and surprise the opponent.

Meanwhile, it can still deal with Celesteela offensively. Here is the calc for the worst case scenario:

168+ SpA Magnezone Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 252+ SpD Celesteela: 116-138 (56.8 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Best case scenario:

168+ SpA Magnezone Thunder vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Celesteela: 194-230 (95 - 112.7%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

As you can see, its main niche is dealing with Celesteela, but it does that very well.


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other options

Hidden Power Ground is a good option since it hits Alolan Marowak and opposing Magnezone for super effective damage. Mirror Coat, while a bit gimmicky, can be used on the Assault Vest set to eat up a big hit and retaliate hard, but it is usually not worth it compared to other options.


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good partners


Fire/Fighting/Ground Checks/Counters: Magnezone is weak to Fire, Fighting and Ground types, so having something to handle those is always.


OU


Tapu Bulu/Lele: Both are very strong attackers that have trouble against Steel types, so they benefit a lot from Magnezone's trapping.

VoltTurn: Other users of U-Turn or Volt Switch can form a VoltTurn core with Magnezone, allowing the team to gain momentum quickly.


VGC


Politoed: As shown by the calc, Politoed helps Magnezone deal with Flamethrower Celesteela by summoning Rain and also against Alolan Marowak. which would prevent Thunderbolt with Lightning Rod. The rain brought by Politoed can also allow Magnezone to use Thunder instead of Thunderbolt.

Tapu Bulu and Salamence: Not only do they have excellent defensive synergy, being a Dragon/Fairy/Steel core, but Salamence has Intimidate and Tapu Bulu summons Grassy Terrain, helping Magnezone a lot against Garchomp.


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threats


Super Effective Hits: Pretty obvious: super effective=big damage. Beware of coverage moves too, such as Superpower on Tapu Bulu.

Ground types: They are immune to Electric and can OHKO Magnezone most of the time, so they are very threatening.

Fast Pokémon: Magnezone is pretty slow, so it will get outspeed by most things.


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